First Impressions: Hawaii Five-O

So, I finally got around to watching the pilot episode of the reimagining of the classic tv series Hawaii Five-O, I know it’s been around for almost two weeks, but I’ve been really busy and to be honest, it was near the bottom of my list of new shows to watch, the only one lower than it being Undercovers.

Anyway, to cut a long blog post short, I enjoyed it. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting going in, probably a police procedural drama I guess. I’ve never seen the original, but my assumption was that it would be like CSI: Miami, but probably with better scripts. Instead the episode opens with a fire fight, a metric ton of explosions and a helicopter gunship. Throw in James Marsters as a recurring bad guy and I was already sold.

When the opening action is over and done with Anton Hesse (James Marsters’ brother) lies dead, alongside Jack McGarrett, the father of the show’s main character Steve. Fast forward a day or so and Steve is back in Hawaii looking to bury his father when the Governor approaches him with an offer. She wants him to lead a special division of police officers to seek out the corrupt and nefarious citizens of Hawaii.

Obviously Steve turns her down, that is, until he realises there is more to his father’s murder than simple revenge. Steve quickly takes over the task force, appointing “Hawaii Hating” Danny Williams as his second in command, mainly so he can wind him up I’m guessing. Not long after  that he ropes in his childhood friend and ex-cop Chin (Daniel Dae Kim) who was kicked off the force after supposedly taking a bribe and his kid cousin, Kono, fresh out of the academy and played by the stunning Grace Park.

With him team assembled they set off after Marsters (Victor Hesse), after a quick but well executed rumble in the shipyard, James’ body is in the drink and presumed dead… Really, is he…? I doubt it. Although with Caprica and his rumoured lead role in an upcoming superhero show, he could well be.

Anyway, whatever the case, it was a fun and exciting first episode and it holds a lot of promise. I found the characters believable enough that they were engaging to watch, but also fun and stereotypical enough that the show was not too heavy. I was certainly surprised by how much I enjoyed the pilot,  a lot more than I did the Chase, which I was much more excited about.

Whether I will stick with the show, I don’t know, it’s certainly a good show and I love the cast, but I think it really depends on what kinds of episodes they choose to do and whether or not there will be an engaging season subplot. But for now it’s definitely on my ever increasing watch list. And for those who have been dying to know, yes it still has the classic theme tune!

Supernatural: Exile on Main Street

It doesn’t seem like five minutes since I was sitting here writing about the awesome finale to season 5 of Supernatural. What I said back then was that if the show did come back, the opening episode of the new season would need to be awesome. But, it wasn’t.

The episode opened really well, I love the montage of Dean putting his skills as a hunter to use in the real world. But what followed was a rather mediocre episode, which referenced another reasonably mediocre episode from either last season or the season before, I can’t recall.

Dean has been poisoned by a Djinn and is hallucinating. Sam shows up and saves him. Sam and Samuel (their grandfather) are both back from the dead and have been for about a year. During which time they’ve been hunting with a select group of 3rd cousins.

Everyone barring Dean knows this. I liked that, I liked that Dean was the last to know, but at the same time I didn’t and I can’t explain why. I liked many things about the episode. I liked the idea that since the apocalypse was averted the supernatural creatures have changed or new ones have evolved. But I didn’t like that Samuel just came out and said it, show us don't just tell us. 

I liked the idea that the Djinn were the children of the Djinn Sam and Dean had killed and that they were out for revenge. But overall I didn’t like the idea that the Djinn, of all things, were what caused Sam to come for Dean after vowing to let him live his “apple pie life” In fact, I would most definitely have preferred Azazel to be back, after all, if Sam and Samuel can come back, why not Old Yellow Eyes. Plus if we’re resurrecting characters Jeffery Dean Morgan would have been cooler than Mitch Pileggi. And where the hell is Castiel? He was such an awesome character, bring back Cas!

So, in summary, Supernatural is back, yey! However, we need a better explanation for why Sam is back than “I don’t know” because that’s just crap. Remember Dean’s reappearance back in season 4? Castiel pulling him from hell, the angel’s hand print seared into his flesh. Come on guys, we know you can do better.

The episode closed out with Dean choosing to stay with Lisa and Ben, which was good because as far as I could see Sam offered no good reasons for him not to. I really hated that “have it your way” moment where Sam almost chastises Dean for not leaving. But we know that sooner or later Dean will leave and head out hunting again, but will it work? Right now, I’m not sure!

Geek Comedy at it’s Best

I’ve been insanely busy this week, so managing to get around to writing anything has been a huge struggle, but how could I not throw some love around for the return of the Geeks!

In the last few years Geek culture has become more widely accepted. Superhero movies grace all the big screens, there are sci-fi and genre shows spilling out of every TV screen, but nothing truly speaks to the geeks inside of all us like Chuck and the Big Bang Theory.

Chuck returned to our screens on Monday with a new episode, setting up Chuck’s new quest, to find his long lost mother, who is of course, none other than Linda Hamilton. Linda however will not be the only terminator alumni to grace the show this season, but more on that story later. The episode primarily revolved around Chuck and Morgan teaming up as possibly the worst spy team since the Lone Gunmen, but, like the inept trio, just as funny. Last season Chuck went from merely ok, to one of the best shows on the airwaves. The final six “bonus” episodes were an adrenalin fuelled rollercoaster ride and if the premiere of season four is anything to go by Chuck is back and just as kickass as ever.

I did find it interesting that Chris Fedak had cut back on the use of the Intersect in this opening episode. In fact the only time Chuck went Superspy was during an off-screen moment. Hopefully Fedak and Schwarz aren’t regretting turning Chuck into a superhero because if they try and tone down his powers or remove them completely they could find themselves in the same position as Heroes did with Peter and Hiro.

But, overall an excellent episode, nothing overly memorable, but a fun filled hour of action. It’s nice to see that Bonita Friedericy has finally made the main credits after only four years with the show, as the head of the new improved CIA HQ a.k.a the Buy More!

Also back this week, by popular demand, I’m sure, is the geek comedy Big Bang Theory. In possibly one of the funniest episodes to date Harold  accidentally gets his member caught in a robotic hand he “borrowed” from NASA. While Leonard and Raj figure out how to deal with that situation, Penny takes Sheldon on his first date with Amy.

I’m so glad that both shows are back, but there’s still so much more to talk about… So, I’ll leave you with my condensed Two Cents and get back to watching all the other new stuff… Supernatural here I come!

First Impressions: Raising Hope

When I first turned this show on to see a hillbilly family attempting to be funny I nearly turned it off again, it was only the short running time I had to endure that stopped me.However, I quickly realised that someone over at FOX knew what they were doing.

Over the last couple of years, indie-style movies like Juno, have been making big bucks. Raising Hope is is in the same vein. Jimmy Chance is a 25 year old, emo-ish looking kid, not overly intelligent and a general under achiever. Through a series of bad choices and even worse luck he is lumbered with a baby girl, whose mother has been executed for murder.

Already the show is off to an ambitious start. Quickly Jimmy learns that he isn’t cut out to be a father, but he is also not willing to give up on his daughter. He soon meets the cute but ultimately quirky shop assistant who thinks he’s “weird” and from that point on we know this is going to be an oddball of a romantic comedy.

Overall, the show’s set up turned me off, I have always found shows that try to dredge up humour by laughing at those less fortunate (i.e. the poor hillbilly family that can’t afford to raise a baby girl) to be dull. But Raising Hope is not focused on what this family can’t do, but instead on what it can. The show is about perseverance in the face of adversity and with that slant I found myself warming to it. The show is definitely piggybacking on the success of movies like Juno, trading the canned laughter of guaranteed success for something a little more edgy, a little more “of the now”. Will that pay off? It wouldn’t the first time that FOX has taken a step forward only to find that the audience stood still. Either way, I enjoyed the pilot of Raising Hope and I applaud FOX for their great choices in half hour comedies, in offering us two (Running Wilde) new shows that are very different to what the other networks have to offer.

First Impressions: Running Wilde

My first impressions of Running Wilde? It’s funny, it very funny, but it is also silly. I mean, any show that features Peter Serafinowicz riding on a tiny horse is pushing the boundaries of ridiculous, right?

But somehow, magically, Michael Hurwitz pulls it off. I have no idea how, this show is crazy, it’s connection to reality is threadbare but, somehow, it’s funny, but it’s clever funny, not slapstick funny, despite all appearances to the contrary.

The jokes that made Arrested Development so funny are back too, along with two members of the cast. For example, Emmy (the female lead and environmental activist) has named her daughter Puddle, and like Bob Loblaw, it’s a name that gets funnier each time it comes up.

Ultimately, I have no idea where the show intends to go, the initial storyline  makes for a great opening episode, but the implied follow up, where Emmy tries to shape Steve (Will Arnett) into the ideal man kinda feels a bit too mainstream considering the bizarre way the show opens. But I trust Michael and I trust Will and I think that this show has the potential to go far.

I also think that Running Wilde is more immediately accessible to a new audience. Unlike Arrested Development where the jokes were sometimes in the things that weren’t said, in the subtleties of the characters, in knowing their quirks, in Running Wilde the jokes play to Will Arnett’s strengths. They are huge and visual, still clever, there’s still that intellectual payoff for knowing what was about to happen, but I get the feeling that while the show  is nowhere near as down to earth as it’s predecessor, it might just be more readily accepted.

Either way, it good to have Will back on our screens, Keri Russell is a beautiful fresh breath of air and Peter Serafinowicz really has the potential to be a comic genius! Overall I thought the show was very very funny, but it is walking a fine line between acceptably silly and overtly ridiculous, but the longer it can tread that line, the funnier it will be!

Rescue Special Ops: Crazy Love

Well, this season has really been like an adrenaline fuelled rocket. The highs and lows of the characters lives have not been quite as intense as season 1, but Chase’s spiral into depression after Bingo’s death was handled well. Overall I prefer the first season, but this season has been gripping, edge of your seat drama from down under.

That said, I found the season final a little laughable. The show opens with a recap reminding us that Ian and Michelle have been threatened by a low life scumbag by the name of Eddie Van Heussen. Shortly after that Michelle is carjacked, but her son James is still in the back seat. Libby Tanner, who plays Michelle gives a sterling performance throughout this episode and I was seriously worried the writers were about to kill her off.

The police continue to operate under the assumption that Eddie has kidnapped James, in order to prove something to Ian and Michelle, however as the plot unfolds we discover that it is instead Renae who has done the dirty deed. Renae, although currently dating Vince, is secretly in love with Ian and this is where the plot fell apart for me…

Fair enough, she wants Ian back. But so far in the 5 or so episodes Renae has appeared in she has never shown any signs of being crazy. So, why then, does she concoct a plan which involves paying a drug addict to steal Michelle’s baby? And why on earth does she believe that this will make Ian see how good a mother she can be? Even worse, why does she kidnap Michelle and tie her up in the boot? More to the point, how? When the said incident occurred she was parked outside Rescue Special Ops HQ,  surely somebody would have seen it?!

The bizarre plot of this episode turned what was a very tense and exciting story into a farce and while the final rescue moment, where Dean heroicly pulls Michelle from the submerge boot, was exciting, it was also ridiculous. Michelle should never have been in the boot in the first place, had she died under those circumstances I think I would have found the whole thing very difficult to accept.

Overall this was an excellent season, but a poor finish.The problem seemed to stem from the writers trying to throw us a red herring, in Van Heussen, so that we wouldn’t guess the real culprit. The problem with that though was that the Eddie Van Heussen story made more overall sense, whereas the “Renae suddenly becoming crazy” story didn’t.

All that said, I had a great time with this show this season and I’m overjoyed to hear that it will be returning to our screens with a full 22 episode season next year!

Covert Affairs: When the Levee Breaks

Covert Affairs, for me at least, was a surprisingly good show. I expected nothing from it, yet I found it to be both endearing and exciting, which is exactly what the season finale should have been…

Unfortunately, I felt rather underwhelmed by the last episode. The episode still had all the same ingredients, Piper Perabo’s beauty, Christopher Gorman’s charm, all the action sequences of a major blockbuster and suspense by the bucket load. But somehow it all went to waste. For some reason, rather than having the season finale be about Annie Walker, it was focused almost entirely on her mysterious ex-lover Ben Mercer, who duped her into failing in love with him before abandoning her in a tropical paradise.

Is that really the hero we deserved for a season finale? No! The plot wasn’t even particularly good, Ben had come to fetch Annie to help him save a professor Ben had promised to protect. I still don’t really understand why and to be honest it just seemed to be a reason to drag Annie back into Ben’s world. However, the story really has little to do with anything else we’ve seen this season, it didn’t really tie anything up, except to confirm that  Ben was alive, which we knew from the season premiere anyway.

Overall, I felt that this final episode was a poor show for what has been a great series. I’ve really enjoyed Piper’s performance this season, Annie’s honesty and general good nature have been a refreshing example to the spy-drama community. Christopher Gorman, too, has finally found a role into which he fits perfectly and I’ve really enjoyed his funny quips and unexplainable good luck with the ladies.

So, I really hope that Covert Affairs will return soon, but I also hope the Ben Mercer storyline is at its end.